A couple days ago, searching for something underneath the deck...

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Today Eli found a salamander near the outside faucet.  First time one of the kids found one since we've been here...

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I'm not sure ANYTHING  compares to the joy of finding, capturing, and then raising creepy, slimey scaly creatures!!! ;D ;D

Joe

Being a woman, I can find thousands of things it compares to. 

Just to name a few:

The joy of getting what I really want and it's on sale for 75% off.

The joy of watching the seeds I planted come into bloom.

Tasting that first tomato off the vine.

Seeing your child do something that you've told him/her a 1000 times and didn't think it got through.

The joy of finding a twenty in a coat pocket.

I could go on.... ;D

Linda_Howell wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 6:11pm:

The joy of finding a twenty in a coat pocket.

I get the same joy out of finding a quarter, but I'm a guy...

I like salamanders.   :)

This time of year, salamanders are moving around, finding each other, and finding places to lay and fertilize their eggs.  Ask the kids to look around and see if they can find any salamander egg masses in nearby water.  They look like this:

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It's interesting to watch them develop.  In the blastula stage, the cells divide in the same way that human embryonic cells develop.  Like this:

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...Only you can see it with the naked eye.  (Each cell as it divides contains yolk material and embryonic material.)

As they develop, you can easily tell them from frog blastula, since frog blastula look like this:

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With the yolk cells concentrated at one pole, and the embryonic cells on the other.

So you can tell whether you're going to get a frog or a salamander long before the embryo looks like either one. 

Hummingbirds, and now this.  I'm getting more and more pedantic, the older I get.   ::)

Best,

George

Awww, the excitement of innocent curiosity discovering nature's strange little creatures.





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Hey Eli, wanna put a firecracker in its butt?

Kevin_M wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 6:53pm:

Hey Eli, wanna put a firecracker in its butt?

Aw geez Kevin, only you! ;D

Hope they each find one. Kids are supposed to put stuff like this in their pockets before showing them around.

Snakes are the best though.

Charlie

Charlie, my mom said I used to put angle worms in my underwear drawer.  She'd go to put clean laundry in and find them all shriveled up. :)

George wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 6:49pm:

frog blastula look like this:

The eggs are not naturally laid with the dark side of micrcomeres on top, they naturally rotate that way by evolution.  Dark absorbs heat and warms the egg, but also protects against U/V rays, which can destroy its biological development.  Those experimentally kept from rotating experience far less birth rate when exposed to U/V despite apppropriately warmed. 

They've been around a long time.   ;)

Mel...you made my day...THANK YOU....some lucky kids there.


Guiseppi wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 5:56pm:

I'm not sure ANYTHING  compares to the joy of finding, capturing, and then raising creepy, slimey scaly creatures!!! ;D ;D Joe

Joe...you are "smarter than the av-er-age Bear"

When I was a kid in Mount Vernon, there was a swamp, next to the woods, at the end of a 2 mile road....WAY out in the sticks. It was smelly, and nasty, and gooey, and GROSS in more ways than I can describe. In other words....the closest to HEAVEN a 10 year old ever thought he would get. I STILL think of it....

I collected frogs, toads, snakes, pollywogs and swamp grass from there to "raise". Dad was tolerant...Mom never met a slimey creepy crawly she didn't love as much as me (lucky guy). We created terrariums... and I learned more watching life happen than any book ever could teach. One condition...when they were ready...let 'em go...we did...still proud of that.

The "holy grail" for me was salamanders. I desperately wanted one or more...ONLY the kind here had the frilly collar that made them look like mini dinosaurs. Scared me spitless...even when I got close they were so quick and I was so hesitant...never got one...some day...maybe.

And George....your delightful mini biology lesson was wonderful...so far from pedantic that that nasty word is not even a consideration. I often reflect and regret that "city" kids never get the opportunities that you and I experienced...it would truly make a difference in their lives. Kinda like hearing about "a smiling man in the sunset festooned with chickadees".

Best,

Jon

jon019 wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 9:44pm:

I often reflect and regret that "city" kids never get the opportunities that you and I experienced...it would truly make a difference in their lives. Kinda like hearing about "a smiling man in the sunset festooned with chickadees".

Agreed, Jon.  "City kids" miss out on something profound. 

Sounds like Mel's little ones, however, will learn to see the inklings that surround us of a larger, older world.

And thank you for reminding me today of my long-ago teacher, John White, and the chickadees.  It was a good day to remember him.

Best,

George

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My first thought upon seeing this photo was "Oh no, she killed the kids!" . . .but then, I'm funny that way.  ;)

Quote:

Awww, the excitement of innocent curiosity discovering nature's strange little creatures. Hey Eli, wanna put a firecracker in its butt?

OMG. I haven't laughed so hard in days.

Mike

M.R. wrote on May 14^th, 2010 at 10:02am:

Quote: Awww, the excitement of innocent curiosity discovering nature's strange little creatures. Hey Eli, wanna put a firecracker in its butt?  OMG. I haven't laughed so hard in days. Mike

Because....back to BOYS again....there is not an object....animal, vegetable, mineral or tonka truck, we haven't imagined blowing up with a fire cracker. he he he. ;D

Joe

Good find, Eli and Ava!

I found a small snake last weekend and put him by the back door for grins and giggles.  I then lured people in and out the door to see who would notice.  It doesn't take much to amuse me.  :P

Dirty kids are happy kids and the healthiest of them all have grazed knees and scratched elbows.

I've seen bugs far prettier than any gem stone and well remember Denny crying when she accidentally killed our dunny-frog.

The greatest gift you can give children is to allow them to be children.

Mel,
They are so darn cute and growing up way to fast.

Diane

Guiseppi wrote on May 13^th, 2010 at 5:56pm:

I'm not sure ANYTHING  compares to the joy of finding, capturing, and then raising creepy, slimey scaly creatures!!! ;D ;D Joe

Uh, I can...how's about breathing???

Those things are eeeky...

Glad the kids are getting along, Mel.  I never got along with my younger sisters...they were too violent for my taste.   ;)

Langa